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Weekly Prayer Cycle Advent 4

Blessed Virgin Mary candle. Photo: Suzanne Rumsey

December 14, 2014

By Suzanne Rumsey

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Week of December 21 (Advent 4) 

Scripture: Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.  And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.”  But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.  The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.

And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.  He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”

The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.  And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren.  For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

PWRDF Story: A Word of Life from Beyond the Grave, by Suzanne Rumsey, Public Engagement Program Coordinator

In December 2012, six months after my father, Gavin died, I was working at home accompanied by a recording of Lessons and Carols from Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria, B.C.  I enjoyed the carols, but never paid close attention to the lessons as the recording levels of the readers was much softer than that of the singers.  But it was quiet at home that day and I was close to the speakers.

Slightly distracted by what I was working on, out of the corner of my ear I thought I heard a familiar voice.  I turned up the volume.  It was my father reading about the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary. I looked at the year of the recording on the CD cover: 2002, the very time I had begun what would be the long and difficult journey of fertility treatment that would eventually end in the in vitro conception and birth of my son, Robin.

I hadn’t known it at the time, but my father had “visited” me then offering assurances that I too would bear a child.  Ten years later, from beyond the grave, he visited me again.  For a brief moment, the veil between life and death seemed to lift. I burst into tears, surrounded and overwhelmed by my father’s love.  And then he departed from me.

At the time of Robin’s birth, my work with PWRDF took me regularly to Latin America.  Becoming a mother opened up a world of encounter and relationship with women in the region – especially indigenous women – that I had not experienced before.  In Mexico for example,  indigenous women become adults in their communities when they become mothers.  At 40 I too had finally become an adult in their eyes.

PWRDF’s Strategic Plan for 2012 to 2015 states that, “Our work is not just about changing the lives of others. It is also about changing our own. Whether you are a member of a development partner organization, an Anglican in Canada or an employee or volunteer of PWRDF, getting involved is an opportunity for transformation – because of what you give, and also because of what you receive in return.”  Thirteen years of working with PWRDF has been transformational for me in so many ways.  As this year of writing “Weekly Prayer Cycles” draws to a close, I am deeply grateful for all that I have given, and all I have received in return through the exploration of scripture, and the sharing of PWRDF stories.

For Reflection

For Advent the four national leaders of the Anglican/Episcopal and Evangelical Lutheran churches in Canada and the United States have each written a devotionon one of its four Sundays.  In his reflection for Advent Four, Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada writes, “Through Mary, God will inhabit the world in the likeness of human form, walk this earth and announce the reign of divine reconciliation, justice and peace for all people… It leaves me pondering to what extent Mary’s Song is truly my song; the song of my life and my work; the song of the Church and its life and work in the world.”

In what ways is Mary’s Song YOUR song in your life and work and in the song of the community of faith where you await the coming of a baby on Christmas Day?

Concluding Prayer: Entering into Winter

Lighting of the Candle
We light this candle for our winter hearts,
for that season when darkness covers the land:
for all that rests beneath the frozen ground,
for the hope that waits in our own iced-in spaces,
for the long nights of emptiness when our faith is made strong,
for the songs of wisdom, born in the silent places,
for our contemplative hearts fashioned in holy darkness.
May all our winter stories rise up to bless us,
Reminding us of the light that shines on in the darkness… 

O Season of the Sheltered Seed, Come!
Come call us to be guardians of life.
Smile through the darkness of long nights.
Remind us that each seed needs a winter.
Invite us to trust what is shrouded in mystery.
O Come!

O Season of Mystery and Contemplation, Come!
Come into the fallow ground of our being.
Allure us from doing into non-doing.
Reveal to us the hidden wisdom in our souls.
Restore what is out of balance in our lives.
O Come!…

O Season of Hidden Life, Come!
Come teach us humility.
Cut through the frozen ground of our being.
Soften that which has become hard and unfeeling.
Free all that resists the silent waiting.
O come!

 

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